


Snow in Ishgard

by sohrkhai



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohrkhai/pseuds/sohrkhai
Summary: The Warrior of Light meets Fray after leaving the Vault.





	Snow in Ishgard

**Author's Note:**

> There's no real pairing material in here, just a short work about the Vault and the Dark Knight quests that we all love.

You couldn't recall how long you've been walking. The still air seeped its way through the fresh cuts and grazes on your gear, slowly numbing your limbs and the hastily treated wounds beneath your garments. You simply acknowledge your current condition and continue your monotonous march, the solid stone foundation of Ishgard stretching for what seems like malms before you. Ishgard has never been a welcoming place for outsiders nor its own citizens. For once, however, you took solace in its piercing cold.

 

He had asked you for a smile. 

 

Perhaps a part of you thought that if you smiled for him, he would smile back the way he would always do so energetically, and tell you that everything will be fine. But he had taken your smile as a of final token of this world, and peacefully left. A satisfied smile on his face, his calling fulfilled. He had taken with him more than just your smile.

You couldn't remember how you had found your way to the Fortemps Manor from the Vault. 

You couldn't bear to look at the shuddering shoulders of a father struggling to stand his ground.

 

A patch of frozen snow crumbled beneath your feet. Several panicked voices trailed into your ears as you slid quietly past a group of elezens whispering in hushed urgency. You couldn't make out their words nor cared enough to listen closely to their conversation. But this slight distraction from the unending blanket of snow and stone had you look up to observe your surroundings for the first time. You had somehow wandered near the Brume.

Where you are mattered very little to you, but the fearful glances of the whispering elezens was enough to pique your interest to direct your path towards the direction of their line of sight. You slowly descend the stairs leading to the lower levels of the Brume, trailing along the frosted walls for shelter against the wind. The source of unrest becomes clear to you as you reach the middle platform of the stairs.

The body lay with its back against the wall, a wreckage of iron and steel rotting in the blood of its owner. 

You wonder for some time how many corpses you have seen at this point to be able to receive a such a sight plainly. A light flurry has begun to fall, occasionally finding its mark on the blood soaked armor. You are fooled for a moment by the drifting snow that the corpse perhaps felt cold. Drawing closer to the body, you kneel to offer the poor soul a final vigil. As open your eyes from a silent prayer, a sinister glow next to the hand of the body catches your attention, and you recognize the source as a soul crystal. Out of habit, you reach for the crystal. 

_...Is this it, is this all that awaits?_

A familiar voice resonates within you the instant you touch the crystal, the strength of its sorrow and agony pulsating in your head. 

_No... No more. Enough..._

You collapse. The sensation of having your mind be overtaken by the emotions of others through the Echo is not foreign to you, but there is something loathing and unbearable about the voice ringing in your ears. Your vision darkens as the voice beckons to you one last time.

_Open your eyes. Look. Do you see now? Do you see?_


End file.
